Abstract

Transverse mode competition in large-mode-area index-antiguided planar waveguide lasers is investigated. We show that, with very large core width and/or index difference between the core and cladding, high-order modes can oscillate and contribute to output lasing power. We have developed a theoretical model for transverse mode competition that takes into account transverse spatialhole burning. Experiments conducted on index-antiguided waveguide lasers with core width of 220 μm and 400 μm are compared to theory with good agreement.

The authors acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0925992. We also thank Dr. Mark Randles and Dr. John Sundeen at Synoptics Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems for assistance in fabricating the IAG planar waveguides used in our experiments.